Former Home Of NAACP In Greenwich Village Earns Landmark Status

GREENWICH VILLAGE, NY — Greenwich Village has a new landmark. On Tuesday, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously voted to designate 70 Fifth Avenue, which was one of the first headquarters for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Along with serving as the HQ for the NAACP, the building was also the original home to The Crisis Magazine — the first-ever magazine published for a Black audience. W.E.B DuBois served as its first editor and it featured the early works of Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Zora Neale Hurston.

The NAACP wrote a note last year supporting the preservation of the building, and local activists have campaigned for years for the 70 Fifth Avenue building to receive landmark status.

The building was constructed in 1914.

“Today’s vote recognizes the contributions the NAACP and other prominent civil rights organizations made at 70 Fifth Avenue,” said City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, in a news release. “I want to thank the Landmarks Preservation Commission for designating this historically significant building which will now be protected for generations to come.”

The landmark status comes almost two months after the NYC Landmarks Commission held a public hearing for the proposed designation of the Greenwich Village building.

"We are thrilled that after three years of campaigning to see this singularly important piece of New York and American history honored and recognized, it has finally received the protections from New York City that it deserves," said Village Preservation Executive Director Andrew Berman, in a news release.

Read More:

• Old NAACP Headquarters In Village Considered For Landmark Status
• Landmark Hearing Set For Prior Home Of NAACP In Greenwich Village